“Not so,” Burke said, tossing down his napkin and pushing away the bowl of stew that he had barely touched. “We have what we choose to have.”
“We have what life has dealt us,” she corrected. “We were brought together for a brief time and then we will part. Do we share this time provided us or do we waste it and always regret the opportunity?”
Her remark caused his heart to ache like hell. How did he love her and leave her? And did he love? Had he suddenly discovered he had feelings for the wisp of a woman who had entered his life in a flash and planned to leave the same way?
“I will never love as I did my Daniel, but I must admit, Mr. Longton, that I have feelings for you, else I would never propose such an interlude.”
“I daresay I feel the same,” he admitted, perturbed at his own questionable feelings.
“Then we have nothing to lose, do we?”
Burke feared they had more to lose than they bargained for, but then how would he discover that if he didn’t pursue his interest in her? Then and only then would he know for sure if he could truly walk away from her.
“Are you willing to find that out?” he asked.
“I have my answer. There is nothing for me to discover, only to enjoy.”
“Why do you refuse to allow yourself to love again?”
She placed her spoon to the side, not having tasted a mouthful. “I don’t refuse. I just know that I could never love as strongly as I did Daniel.”
“As I mentioned once before, first love can never be replaced, but love can still flourish and be even stronger than before.”
“Oh no,” Storm said adamantly. “I’d never love with the strength that I loved Daniel.”
“Then you aren’t being fair to Daniel.”
Storm looked affronted. “Why do you say that?”
“If your husband loved you, truly loved you, then he wouldn’t want to see you alone. He’d want you to love again, and with the same if not more courage and strength than you did him. Would you not want that for Daniel, if it were you who had died?”
Storm didn’t hesitate. “I would want Daniel to be happy.”
“Then what makes you think he wouldn’t want the same for you?”
Storm placed her napkin on the table. “It doesn’t really matter what Daniel would want for me. My fate was sealed the day I rescued him from the Earl of Balford’s prison. The man is determined to see me caught and paid to suffer for the humiliation I caused him. I’ve stayed several steps ahead of him but he will catch up sooner or later. It is inevitable.”
Burke stood, walked around the table to her, and yanked her out of her seat by her arms. “There is no way in hell I would let you be captured and imprisoned.”
“You will not decide my fate, Mr. Longton.”
He pulled her up against his chest. “I am your fate,Mrs. Longton.”
He claimed her mouth with a feverish kiss that had their passion soaring in seconds.
He held her close, running his hand up to her hair and freeing it of the combs that held it in place so that he could run his fingers through the silky black strands. He wrapped his hand in the long waves and tugged her head back to expose her neck to his lips, and he feasted on her smooth flesh.
She moaned her pleasure and it stirred his own. With quick fingers he opened her blouse and moved his lips to her hard nipples and continued to feast. She tasted exquisite, and he couldn’t get enough of her, nor she him, since her hand cupped the back of his head.
He took a moment to free her completely of her blouse and himself of his shirt and once again pulled her up against him.
She gasped as their naked bodies made contact, and he swallowed the staggering moan that rose in his throat.
Lord, but she felt good against him. She was warm and soft and fit perfectly to his chest, as if they were made for each other. Her hard nipples dug into him and the full mounds of her breasts snuggled against him as if they had come home and were content.
She belonged there, melded with him as if they were one, and the thought startled and excited him as he leaned down and took her lips once again.
He kept his arms firmly around her as he walked her over to the bed and lowered them down on it, continuing to kiss her as they descended into the soft bedding.
